Telescopic safety-zone standard



March 2 1926. 5

' F. c. LAMP TELESCOPIC SAFETY ZONE STANDARD Filed March 25, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 2 1926.

F. C. LAMP TELES-COPIC SAFETY ZONE STANDARD F'iled March 25, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented lifter. 2i, 1925.

I UNITED STATES FRED C. LAME, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

TELESCOPIC SFETY-ZOE STANDARD.

Application filed March 25, 1925. Serial No. 18,191.

T0 all 'L1/7mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED C. LAMP, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing` at Clevcland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Telescopic Safety-Zone Standard, of which the following is a specification. v The Iobject of my invention is to provide a telescopic tra-flic signalwhich may be used to mark off a safety zone device at the intersect-ion of streets for the protection of pedestrians and also to mark ofi spaces in the street to protect people getting on or off street cars and in which space motor vehicles are not allowed tol enter. It is also an object of my invention to provide novel means for permitting of conveniently telescoping the signal when its use is not required. These and other objects of niy-in vention are attained by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view partly insection and partly in side elevation of my invention with the inner standard in its elevated position; Y

Fig. 2 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of my invention with the inner standard vpartially lowered;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectionwith the inner standard in its lowered position;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of my device;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on line 5-5 of Fig. 2; v

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on line 6-6 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of the resilient electrical contact mechanism.

Like numerals indicate like parts in each of the several views.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, I provide a steel tube or pipe 1, which pipe is sunk in the street so its uppermost edge is level with the surface of the street Ior pavement. Telescopically mounted in outer pipe 1 is an inner pipe or standard 7 which is provided with a metal cap 9 which when the inner standard 7 is lowered extends over the top of the outer standard and rests on the top of the pavement so that vehicles can drive over it without damage to the vehicles or to the standard. Cap 9 has a suitable ring 'or handle 10, as shown, for pulling the standard up. A felt packing 6, and stuffing box collars 5 which are screwed into the interiorly threaded upper end of outer pipe 1, form a water-tight closure for the top of the outer standard. The outer lpipe is provided with one or more annular grooves, such as the grooves 2 and 3 illustrated in thel drawings, while the inner pipe or standard 7 is provided 4with one or more resilient groove-engaging devices for re- Lleasably engaging `the correspondingly arranged groove or grooves in the outer pipe when the inner. pipe is raised in its elevated operative position. `The form of resilient groove engaging device which I prefer consists of spaced rings, discs or plugs 12 with a central core Aor block 17 andil with balls 14 which are mounted in the apertures 13 and normally pressed outwardly by springs 15.' y

Near vtheupper endy of inner pipe or standard 7 I provide windows 8 through which the warning' signal lamp 25 may throw its rays. Lamp 25 is connected by wires 26 with the contact rings 18 which are mounted` on insulating rings 19 encircling the inner standard near the lower end of same, as shown in'Fig. 3. When the standard is raised the contact rings 18 move into physical and electrical contact with the spaced sli'dably mounted contact members 20, the rear portions of which are engaged by springs 21, connected'by screws 25 to the wires 22 leading to a suitable source of current. All of these elements are mounted in insulating material as illustrated in detail i in Fig. 7 and the wires 22 are preferably lnclosed in a` suitable conduit 23. Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, the device is shown in its lowered inoperativepo'sition in `which position electric circuit to' lamp 25 is broken. In Fig. 2 the device is shown in a partially raised position, handle 10 being used to pull the inner standard up to an operative position, which latter position is illustrated in Fig. 1. In that position the resiliently pressed balls 14V seat in the grooves 2 and 3 and releasably lock the standard in its elevated operative position. At the same time, the electrical contact rings 18 are in a position to contact with lthe resiliently mounted contact members 20 and complete the electric circuit to the lamp 8 which is thereby automatically illuminated and which by reason of the windows 8, which may if desired, be provided with stained glass to serve as a warning to motorists to keep od of the safety zone. The device is one that does not have to be moved back and forth as do the safety zone signals now in general use hut is a permanent fixture in the street and one that is conveniently operated and which provides an e'icie'nt warningfand affords a large degree of protection tothe innocent pedestrian against the encroachment of reckless drivers. The pipes Tand 1 can be made of any suitable Vsize or height desired and of any suitable material. By providing a plurality ofigrooves -2'vand `3 and ecause of the locking device shown, it is possible to move the standard to a position in which the uppermost locking device will seat in the groove 2, as shown in Fig.V 2, in which position the standard will be locked in a warning' position in day use but the electric circuit will notbe completed and the red lamp 25 will not be'burning. When it is desired tohave the red lamp burning the device must be elevated still furtherVV so that the resilient locking means will engage both the grooves 2 and 3 in which position the contact rings 19 will contact with the resilient contact members 2O land the lamp will Vbe lighted.

lVhat I claim is:

1. An outer pipe embedded in the ground and having its upper edge flush with the surface of the street, a standard telescopically mounted in the -outer pipe, a sealing device for tightly sealing the space between the top of the outer pipe and the outer wall of the inner standard, means on the inner standard for releasably locking it in its elevated position, and a cap on the top of the outer standard, said cap having a handle for raising the standard manually, said vhandle normally lying ina plane below or level with the top surface of the cap.

2. In a telescopic traliic signal, the combination of an outer pipe embedded in the earth and having its upper edge Hush with `the street, a standard telescopically mounted inthe pipe, resilient means for releasably locking the inner standard in an elevated position, water-tight closure means closing the Vspace between the top of the outer pipe scribed iny claim 4,

and .the standard, -a signal lamp in the standard, Contact rings mounted on the lower portion of the inner standard, wires leading from the lamp to said contact rings, and a resilient contact element with which said contact rings are adapted to form a releasable electric contact.

' 3. In combination with the apparatus described in claim 2, a cap mounted on the standard and of su'liicient diameter to seat end of the telescopicfstandard, resilient electric contact elements with which the electric contact rings will contact when the standard is raised to Va position -in which the plurality of resilient locking devices engage in the plurality of grooves in the outer pipe and in which the electric circuit will not be completed when the upperresilient locking Idevice only enga'ges in a groove in the outer pipe, whereby the` telescopic standard may be locked in either of two operative positions, in one of which a Signal lamp is lighted and Ain the'other 'of which it is not lighted by 'failure to' complete the electric circuit to it. 5.y In combination with the lapparatus dea metal `cap yalixed to the top of the telescopic standard and of suiicientdiameter to seat over the upper edge of the outer pipe when the ydevice is in lowered position to permit vehicles to pass over same readily.

FRED. C. LAMP. 

